The REAL STORY

﻿The IFC was founded in 1996 by longtime martial artist and event producer, Howard Petschler. Howard recognized that MMA would finally solve a lot of the problems associated with martial arts as a spectator sport, and so he sought to establish the credibility that MMA and it athletes needed to be treated and accepted as a sport. He initially took the athletic commission accepted kickboxing rules and adapted them for MMA. The IFC then established an oversight body overseen by Paul Smith who had joined the IFC ranks in 1997. Paul went to work adapting the new rules for the California State Athletic Commission. In a coordinated effort with the commissions of Nevada and New Jersey, these rules, which were to eventually evolve into the Unified Rules, allowed for the safety of the fighters without detracting from the action. Weight divisions for both men and women were developed, and soon the IFC was working with athletic commissions throughout United States and Canada to bring prominence to this exciting new sport. The IFC would produce the first regulated MMA events New Jersey, Texas and Canada.

The IFC was the first MMA promotion to enact rules that were recognized by a state athletic commission (Mississippi/1996). With the help of Mike Thomas from Kahnawake, the IFC was responsible for the first MMA show in Canada (1996) and went on to promote MMA events on the Kahnawake Reserve. They also produced Canada's initial government sanctioned MMA show (Montreal 1998). IFC shows on RDS in Canada were the first to be a regularly scheduled MMA weekly network program anywhere in the world. Meanwhile the IFC continued to produce in the US mainly a growing number of Native American casinos. The IFC did the first casino hosted MMA event in 1997.

The list of great fighters from the IFC include Chuck Liddell, Shogun, Babalu, Igor Vovchanchin, Rich Franklin, Forrest Griffin, Jeremy Horn, Tim Sylvia and many others too numerous to mention. Today, the IFC remains one of the top proving and developing grounds for MMA talent.

As the MMA continues to grow, new territories for the MMA market have been established. IFC efforts to officially sanction the sport continue today. Every state now allows the sport in some form. The IFC is currently working internationally to help with the establishment of the sport in many countries.

Through the continuing efforts of the IFC and the now rapidly growing MMA community, the world is finally witnessing some of the greatest athletes of our time in the most exciting fighting sport on the planet!﻿